Thidora Pioneers of inclusive education

A L M ANSAR

Oriental dance

Theatre Institute for Disability Oriented Research and Advocacy (ThIDORA)
has been tirelessly engaged in the integration of the disabled into
normal society. It is a non-profit, service oriented, government
approved, private institute which is conducting their activities, on the
slogan Through the Arts, sharing and celebrating diversity. Their vision
is to be the prime theatre association for disabled and disadvantaged in
Sri Lanka.

With their twenty-one years of experience, they are conducting drama,
dance and movement therapy, art and music therapy and Puppetry workshops
for the disabled and disadvantaged, to make the disabled able and pave
the way for them to enter normal society.

Thidora Theatre recently moved to a new location at Rajagiriya. This
building complex, located in Cooray Mawatha, Moragasmulla, Rajagiriya,
is specially designed for people with special education needs. This
complex has been allocated to Thidora Theatre by Al Latiff Foundation
free of charge on long term lease. Workshops are conducted every weekday
from 9.00 am to 3.30 pm at the main auditorium.

The activities of Thidora theatre are closely monitored by Prof
Sunanda Mahendra, Attorney-at-Law Vasana Wickremasena, Chartered
accountant R A Jayaweera, veteran actress Maheshwary Rathnam,
Attorney-at-Law Rajendra Bandara and lyricist Jayampathi Algama as the
members of the Board of Governors.

Definition

The Board of Governors

“According to Buddha Dhamma ‘Thidora’ signifies Mind, Body and the
Word,” says Chairman and Artistic Director of Thidora theatre Rohana
Deva. He further explained that if a human being is to succeed in this
world he or she has to discipline him or her self to use these three
doors and should have a firm understanding of what is being done. A
person who has acquired the required abilities and the understanding
will not fail. Failure or breakdown in these communicative abilities and
processes will make a person’s life problematic.

As is stated in Shakespeare’s play As You like it the world is a
stage and we are all actors who play roles. “Consequently we should have
an understanding of the different roles we and others play in life. In
order to act out these different roles we should grasp the four types of
expressive gestures (Abinaya), as Bharatha Muni, the ancient scholar and
authority on Dramatic Art has stated,” says Rohana Deva

Rohana deva

Ramani Damayanthi

Lachan

Three of the above-mentioned gestures - the gesture of the Mind, Word
or verbal gesture and the gesture of the Body - happen to coincide with
the utterances of the Buddha on this subject. The fourth gesture as
described by Bharatha Muni is called Aharya Abinaya which means the
gestures we make through the costumes, backdrops, lightning and sounds.
These aspects are not controlled or directed by the actor or actress but
are subject to a variety of influence such as culture, nature and
performing conditions. These factors are also subject to the director’s
guidance. Even so all human being must have some form of control over
the Mind, Body and Word. If we are in control of these elements we can
become a fully-fledged human being, explained Rohana Deva.

Through Thidora, the child who needs Special Education will learn to
listen than just hear, to perceive than just see, and to think than what
immediate thoughts would allow. Consequently, they have selected drama
therapy as their main teaching tool. Through this process the child
learns to be critical of the flow of his or her moods and emotions and
arrive at a catharsis that would lead to peace.

‘Inclusive Education’

It was no secret that Thidora participants truly benefited from the
concept of inclusive education, that they had pioneered by putting it
into practice in Sri Lanka. Their team had experience of practicing the
concept of inclusive education since 1990, explained Ramani Damayanthi
who is in charge of class room activities as the Creative Directress of
Thidora theatre.

Thidora theatre has opened its doors to children aged six and upwards
and to those who have preserved their childlike innocence even up to the
age of sixty.

They take in whoever comes irrespective of gender, class, creed,
nationality, physical and personality deficiencies. They do not
differentiate on the basis of Autism, Down’s syndrome, learning
difficulties, intellectual disabilities, hearing, speech or visual
impairment. All the participants learn together and learn from one
another.

Rohana Deva said that their students were encouraged to explore and
discover themselves through the use of dramatic arts and drama therapy,
musical awakenings, art therapy and puppetry that were used as tools of
special education. The combination of those tools led to a kind of
meditation amongst Thidora participants that helped to calm their
adrenalin.

They were rewarded

Rohana Deva was honoured with a Kala Soori Presidential Award for his
services to the differently abled. The award recognised not only
Rohana’s theatrical work over the last 30 years but also his pioneering
efforts to use dance and drama as a therapeutic means to work with
differently abled youth.

Thidora students received two first prizes at the national festival
on the World Differently abled Day 2010, by staging a hybrid dance act
with segments from low country dance under the supervision of the
acclaimed choreographers Ramani Damayanthi and Karunadasa Olaboduwa. The
event was organised by the Saviya Development Foundation and the
Ministry of Social Services. Thidora students won four other awards at
the Very Special Peace Art Festival - ESCO 2010. The festival was
organised by ESCO Rehab Sri Lanka with the participation of more than
700 disabled youth from all over the country including Jaffna, Manner,
Batticaloa and Tangalle.

Thidora Theatres’ Creative Director Ramani Damayanthi has won the
Best Actress Award in 1994 and 1995 at the National Youth Drama Festival
and 1998 at the State Drama Festival. She was the only female to win the
Ten Outstanding Young Persons of Sri Lanka - TOYP 2009. She won the
trophy for her contribution to the wellbeing of children. The event was
organized by the Junior Chamber International Sri Lanka and was held in
Colombo.

She was also honoured by the National Youth Services Council on March
27, 2010 for her services rendered to the development of the youth
theatre in Sri Lanka. She received the award from the then Prime
Minister, Rathnasiri Wickremanayake on the World Drama Day 2010 at the
Youth Services Auditorium, Maharagama. Puppeteers of Thidora Theatre
were fortunate to perform at the Eighth International Puppet Festival
that was held from March 20 to 28, 2011 at the Puppet Museum, Lahore,
Pakistan.

Other activities

Thidora Theatre Sri Lanka proudly presented ‘Kaffir Sthrela’ the
maiden musical album of Sri Lankan Kaffirs at Sirambiady. They launched
a website – www.puppetry.com which provides access to the work of Sri
Lankan puppeteers.

Thidora theatre was involved in developing a street theatre troupe at
Women’s Resource Centre (WRC), Kurunegala. They are conducting Training
of Trainers (TOT) programs to enhance the creativity and knowledge in
music and movement therapy for several institutes like the Department of
Inclusive Education of the National Institute of Education, Mahragama,
Vocational Training Institute of the Ladies College, Colombo 07 and the
Deaf and Blind School, Rathmalana.

The Panel of the Curriculum Development for Education of Autistic
Children of the Inclusive Education Department, National Institute of
Education trained with Thidora students. Thidora has expanded its work
of psychosocial support to persons living with disability in the
Southern Province of Sri Lanka. Southern Youth Development Foundation (SYDF)
in Hambantota is affiliated to Thidora Theatre.

Relieved parents

“Our son Latif turned 31 earlier this year,” says a mother. For the
first time in a very long time, the family was able to gather around and
celebrate, though in a very small way, with a cake and a few photographs
to remember the day. Recent years have been very tough for everyone at
home, particularly his mother, who has devoted most of her life to care
for her autistic son.

With age, ‘Lachan’, as they call him at home, has also gotten bigger
and stronger, which due to his condition he does not realize. However
when he is upset or weary of something like the hot weather, loud noises
and bright lights; he tends to push, shove and pull people around him,
not realizing that he is hurting them. “As a result we have not been
able to retain a caretaker for him, with most leaving within days, if
not the same day.”

His inability to express himself, sometimes manifests in him breaking
everything around him, including heavy furniture, lights, which had left
the parents helpless and yearning for his condition to improve. “We
consulted a psychiatrist and even considered the option of admitting him
at the Angoda facility for the mentally ill, as his condition was
continuously worsening,” said Lachan’s mother.

It is around this time they were introduced to Thidora. “After we
called them they visited us at home and observed Lachan’s behaviour and
took the risk and the challenge to help him. We initially agreed to keep
him there for about two and half hours, with either his mother or myself
staying with him,” said Lachan’s father. Over time however, with lots of
patience and devotion, Ramani Damayanthi was able to win Lachan’s trust
and made him feel secure and comfortable within the Thidora premises.

Since accepting him into Thidora in November 2010, there has been a
remarkable improvement in Lachan and he is very happy to go to Thidora
every morning and misses his daily routine during public holidays and
the weekends. “We are very thankful to all the dedicated staff at
Thidora for their kindness, time and effort to care for these special
children and the Board of Directors for facilitating the centre’s
operations. We are delighted with the results and are committed to help
Thidora grow and help many more differently able children.”